Vernier device



Jly 5 1927. 1,634,676

T. F. w. 4MEW-:R

VERNIER DEVICE Filed Dec. 1. 1922 A ximg if( Jawa/Lw A TTORNFY,

Peeeeeea July s, 1927.

lUNITED STATES- THEODO l'. W. Oil'A ELIZABETH,` NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNQB To l.

ENGLISH, OF lNEVTARK, NEWJEBSEY.

vnnnmn nnvron.'

application mea neeember 1, '1922. ,serial ne. 604396.

My invention relates to adjustin devices vfor use in connection with electrical and other' prec'ision instruments where .delicate variations of adjustment become necessary to accomplish desired results. In the recent development of radio-telephony, certain of the instruments used, for example,` the variometer, the vario-coupler, the variable condenser, and the Yrheostat, require very fine adjustment to obtain such results as tuning to proper wave-length, tuning out stray atmospheric disturbances, etc., and it is to such tunn devices .that my improvement lis specica y applicable. But I wish it lto :be understood that it is not confined to such instruments alone for it may, lwith'slight modification, be applied to any instrument or device where so-called vernier adjustment 1s desirableor necessary.

In the accompanying drawing forming a v part hereof,

Fig. 1 is a plan'of m improvement as ape plied to awell-known orm of radio-dial.

Fi 2 is a section of the same, showing in a dition, its application to a well-known form of variable condenser. t

Fig. 3 is a section of a modified plied to a variable condenser. v Fig. 4A a view vof the gear-train bearing bracket, with the pitch circles of the gears shown 1n dotted lines.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental section of a modified form of the friction device shown in Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawform aping.

It is to be understoodthat the application of my improvement to a plate condenser,

` as shown in the drawing, is illustrative only,

and that the, device is capable of being applied to other instruments and in other reupon a tubular shaft 3, and carries a y the short stub shaft 10, which is inserted in the bushing 11, the latter embedded in the The outer en .of notches therein to form a jawclutch memdisk 1, as shown. The shafty is located in a bearing aperture 12 in the panel 13 and is held against end play by the nut 14 upon.

the rear side,'with thespring washer 15 bearing against the hub 16 ofthe disk 1 and upon the face of the cupped gear 17,

.which latter is loosely mounted upon the jshaft with its teeth in engagement with those of the pinion 9. The nut-14 is screwed upon the shaft 3 to place the spring washerl of the panel.

within the tubulershaft s, is' e Send shaft 20, to which 4the particular device to be operated is connected, in the present case, the movable 'plates of a condenser. This shaft 20 is adjustably secured within the shaft 3.

by the nut Y 14, which Vis internally ,coned or tapered to fit the correspondingly tapered yend ofthe shaft 3, which is split as at 21,

so thatrwhen the nut is screwed up, it will contract the s lit end to grip the shaft') 20. ofthe shaft 3- has a series ber as at 22. A lateral opening 23 is rovided in the shaft 3, to permit the perip ery A of the gear 4 to extend therein, to-engage a pinion 24 within the hollow end of the shaft.

This pinion 24 is mounted upon the end 'of a short shaft 25, mounted in= a bushing 26, which i's forced into the end of the shaft 3, the construction being such that the pinion 24and shaft 25 may'have a slight longitudinal movement in, the axis vof the shaft 3.

The knob 2 is mounted upon the4 outer end of the shaft 25, with thebushing 27 provided with clutch teeth 28 for enga ement f with the teeth 22 upon the end of `s aftl.4

A. Spring 29 surrounds `'the end of shaft 3 bearing upon the bushing 27 ande` the collar 30, the latter upon the shaft 3, so as to normally lforce the knob 2 outwardly with the clutch members disengaged. Y

If the knob is turned without depressing it, it will be noted that its rotation be communicated through the gear train way of pinion 25, gear 4, pinion 5, gear pinion 9 to the cupgear17; and since latter is irietionallv held against rotation, the result will be the slow rotation of the disk l, the such rotation depending upon the gear train ratio. lt on the other hand, the knob 2 is depressed to bring the tivo members oi the eluteh 22, 28 inte engagement, then the rotation of the knob vrill carry with it the disk as a Whole, since the torce required will be suitieient to overcome the irietional resistance offered by the Cup gear l? against the aee of the panel, or against the friction ivasher'll. This frietional resistance is desirable in such devices as the condenser shown, or any other oi the instruments to. which the invention ma;r be applied, to retain the parts in adjusted position and prevent jarring out of adjustment.

ln the modiied orm shovvn in llig. 3, l have shown the dial 3l and knob 32 as ot the same general form as those above described. The dial is rigidlyY mounted upon the sleeve shaft 33, and the knob is rigidly mounted upon the solid shaft 34, the latter extending through said sleeve shaft, and having the pinion secured to the protruding end thereof. Between the other end of the sleeve shaft 33 and the interior ot the knob 32 is a coil spring '36 whose expansion serves to hold the'pinion 35 against the end ot the sleeve shaft. lThe margin of the knob is eoned as at 37 t-o form a clutch member which is designed to engage a corresponding coned clutch member 38 on the face of the disk 3l when the knob is depressed. For the sake of as secured to the face of the disk 47, whose.

edge is coned as at 48 to engage a `correspondingly coned ring 49, which is mounted upon the extended standards of the instrument, as 50, 51. The engagement o' the disk and ring is maintained by the fiat sprin 52 extending across from standard to stan ard and bearing upon the center of the disk, and is such that when the knob 32 isturned withf megeve ont depressing it, the resistance offered by the disk will hold it stationary, with the result that the pinion will travel slowly around the @up gear 43, the rot-ationoi the pinion 45 being 'communicated to it through the gear train trom the shaft 34 to which the knob is secured. qWhen the knob is simultaneousqv depressed and turned, the clutch members 37 and 38 engage, and the turning torre will be. suieient to overcome the friction between the edge of the disk 47 and the interior oi the 49, and the entire rotating structure will rotate as ,a unit..

ln order that the pinion 45 may be held in i `fixed relation with the gear 46, l may provide the center o the disk 47 with a bearing 52, to receive the pivot 53 upon the end or"- the sha-tt 34, provision being made for the longitudinal movement of said Shaft by making the pivot long, as shoivn so as to permit end play. Y

As a slight modification of the friction retarding mechanism for the cup gear, I may use the structure illustrated in Fig. 5. Here, the part 47, corresponding to the disk 47 is held stationary, as by making the ring 49 integral With the disk, and providing a hub 54 in the center upon which the gear 46? is mounted to bear against a collar 55, with theA spring Washer 56 located between the rear tace of the gear 46 and the part 47. The trictional resistance olered to the gear is suilieient to resist its being turnedA by the knob alone when not depressed; however, when the knob is depressed to engage the clutch elements 37, 38 (Fig. 3), the whole moving structure may be turned.

In a vernier device of the class described, the combination of a sleeve shaft having an index disk mounted upon one end thereof and a supporting bracket upon the other end thereof, a .driving shaft extending through said sleeve shat and having a turning knob upon its outer end and a driving pinion at its inner end, clutch members re ctively upon said knob and disk whereby said shafts may be manually coupled'together to rotate in unison, a gear train carried byvsaid supporting bracket and having a gear 1n mesh with said pinion, and a rictionally retarded gear in mesh with the last element of said gear train, whereby the free rotation of said 'rnnononn r. W. MEYER. 

